Branding In The Era Of Social Media

Branding is a very vast process that encompasses all the elements that are utilized to create a strong impact on the company. It is not restricted to logo designs, typography and graphics, rather it helps the company to stand out from the crowd. In a nutshell, it is a process that creates a strong image of the company in the consumer’s mind. Branding has been used for ages and is an inseparable part of any company and is the greatest asset that a company possesses.

For many years traditional modes of marketing which are television, radio, magazines, and newspapers have ruled the marketplace. Till today, it is used as one of the tools to communicate with the audience and portray the values of the company. With social media taking over as the new means for communicating, companies need to brush up on their digital marketing skills. The importance of digital marketing is at its peak because the needs and expectations of the audience have changed.

If we go by statistics, over 3.38 billion people are using social media platforms. The usage of social media has tripled over the last decade making it the biggest marketplace for companies. Social media has indeed revolutionized the way companies market their product and therefore engaging the target consumer over social media can turn out to be a big hit for the companies. 

With millions of companies crawling around the internet, it becomes extremely important how you engage your target audience. Here, the concept of brand identity take over. Building a strong brand identity that imprints in the mind of the consumer is a task but if accomplished, can transform the sales and profit of the business. Building a strong brand identity is important since this is how your consumer will identify you. Social media is a huge platform for the company to engage with a massive audience worldwide and express its values and beliefs. In order to gain the loyalty of the consumer, it is important for them to trust the company. Therefore building an impactful brand identity starts with giving a candid look of the company to the intended audience.

Social media helps in tailoring the message of the company according to the audience and creates a positive impact in the consumer’s mind. Branding yourself on social media will also allow you to open your market with consumers overseas, and create a strong consumer base. Additionally, it allows the companies to analyze the feedback of the consumers and take action accordingly. Apart from these benefits, companies could fully utilize the power of data analytics. A business can analyze the data and could get an exact understanding of what the consumers actually want.

Through this, they can direct their branding strategy in marketing according to the consumer's needs. The company can then specifically produce the ads according to their target consumers. Not only does social media bridge the gap between the company and the consumers, but it also helps the brand to expand and increase brand awareness. Having an online presence is very important for the company since the era of branding and marketing has tremendously changed. 

Though the pandemic and increased usage of social media have changed the way companies place themselves, the fundamentals of branding and marketing still stand the same. Companies need to differentiate themselves from their competitors and should definitely stand out from them. Companies should accept and act according to the business environment and the dynamics. To sustain in an environment that is data-driven requires immediate actions and data-driven decisions which favor both the consumer's needs and the marketing needs.